(SPOILERS) Did “An Uninvited Ascian.” I salute Square... and have questions.

[Tensaihime]

I’ve actually done a few more quests since, but this one is why I have questions.

One of the things I like most about RPGs is that I get to explore a new world. Of course I crave action and want that sweet EXP, and I’ll shoot/stab/cast spells all day. But I also like talking to characters, learning about the places I visit, absorbing bits about the history and culture and whatnot. And if there’s a chance that someone I encounter may not be 100% bad, I often try to hear them out. Take the beast tribe quests from this game. Yes, I want to help these guys over here get home; yes, I want to help that family over there not die out. There will be plenty of other scumbags for me to enjoy impaling and looting.

The point of all that is that Midgardsormr has lost soft privileges. I HAD been curious about his side of the story, but now, whatever sob story he was going to tell me, however many offspring he’s lost (probably a good thing if they were all like Nidhogg), since my WoL can be tempered and is likely to fall to a primal or ancient superweapon, and the Ascians can get in and attack my comrades whenever they please, it‘s stopped mattering. And THIS is why my hat is off to Square-Enix today: it’s not playing with the “invincible heroine” trope, or being unafraid to kill off cool characters. It’s the fact that they have gotten someone whose play style has had her mom making Daniel Jackson jokes to throw up her hands, say “screw this”, and commit to killing so many wyrms that Estinien will feel obsolete. Father of Dragons wants to go to war? I’ll take his wretched buddies to war. Not every story can get this reaction from me, so bravo, Square! (I guess if I come across the Dravanian equivalent of a beast tribe, I’ll let them be. But everyone else dies.)

Right. Now the questions.

1. After I survive Ifrit and return to headquarters (I THINK this is when), Minfilia talks a little about the Echo, and she says “it’s like WE are protected by a higher power.” Livia snatches her because she can’t get the WoL, and Minfilia reacts the same as WoL during the Sahagin priest‘s shenanigans. Midgardsormr took my blessing, but not hers. Why wasn’t hers sufficient to keep Nabriales out?

2. The description in the minion list says the little Midgardsormr that follows you around (or would, if I let him out) is a temporary form until he gets a new body. Is the little dragon a projection of his blackened soul that only WoL can see? Or is that actually a tangible body, vulnerable to stabbing? I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t thought about it...

(Before I get on with the extermination, I’ve been invited to feast with the Sultana, and while my WoL could use the free food, before I go see Her Grace, I have to do some Crystal Tower stuff. And before I do THAT, I have some real-life holiday business to handle. So I figured it wouldn’t hurt to ask, since this is an RPG and I don’t know how long these questions will be gnawing at me before they’re answered.)

[MistakeNot]

1. Minfilia does not have the Blessing of Light. She does have the Echo, but that is not the same thing.
2. Don't rely too much on minion descriptions being lore accurate, but yes - that is a physical body. Except when Middy doesn't want it to be physical.


Oh, and Midgardsormr merely blocked (blocked, not removed) the Blessing of Light from us, just to test us and see if we are actually worth anything without momma Hydaelyn protecting us all the time. He did not remove the Echo, so still immune to tempering.

At the point in the story where you are you still have a LOT of things to find out about dragons in general, and Midgardsormr and the First Brood in particular. Midgardsormr isn't a bad guy by any means, but he doesn't have any reason to be nice to just any wannabe hero who bothers him.

[Tensaihime]

Oh, that’s some good news right there. Iceheart is still out there causing mayhem, after all, and I’d been fretting over what Shiva was going to do to me when I faced her again.

Thank you SO much for your answers. You’ve been really helpful!

(I have a lot of half-organized notes with a lot of dragon-related salt that I meant to post, and now they’re going to look hilariously outdated and inaccurate. I’ll probably put them up anyway just to laugh at myself.)

[Enkidoh]

As MistakeNot mentioned above, the Echo and Blessing of Light are two totally different things. The Echo is what grants immunity to Primal influence (tempering), not the Blessing, the later which is what Midgardsormr seals. The Blessing allows one to materialize the Crystals of Light and effectively have a direct line to Hydaelyn herself, allowing the Mothercrystal to directly step in and influence events (as in, protect her champion, the Warrior of Light).

What the Echo truly is, and where it comes from, is a major story revelation during ShB's story so I won't spoil it here for you.

Either way, both your questions are answered during Heavensward's storyline, so keep playing! It will all be revealed. Also, you're about to experience an earth-shaking event that was until Shadowbringers's final events my favourite part of the game. And still is. So keep at it, you'll get the answers you seek.!

[Tensaihime]

Thanks for this! I will definitely keep playing and learn the truth.

You do NOT have to answer this, but the morbid part of me has looked at what you typed and started wondering if WoL is either going to abuse people’s life force, or turn out to be part Allagan or someone’s uncooperative science project. I also like eavesdropping on the Novice Network chat while I farm/gather, and I’ve seen a fair bit of salt over the ARR-HW transition, so I am VERY curious about what the near future holds.

[MistakeNot]

Thanks for this! I will definitely keep playing and learn the truth.

You do NOT have to answer this, but the morbid part of me has looked at what you typed and started wondering if WoL is either going to abuse people’s life force, or turn out to be part Allagan or someone’s uncooperative science project. I also like eavesdropping on the Novice Network chat while I farm/gather, and I’ve seen a fair bit of salt over the ARR-HW transition, so I am VERY curious about what the near future holds.

There is a bit of interesting information about the WoL that you find out late in the Shadowbringers storyline, but I won't spoil that. For now, just assume the WoL is exactly what they appear to be - an unusually skilled adventurer who have been blessed by Hydaelyn. It is after all the truth, even if perhaps not quite all the truth.

Most of the salt about the ARR-HW transition is about people thinking there are way too many quests between destroying the Ultimate Weapon and entering Ishgard. You are almost done with all of those quests, so nothing you need to worry about.

[Frizze]

Most of the salt about the ARR-HW transition is about people thinking there are way too many quests between destroying the Ultimate Weapon and entering Ishgard. You are almost done with all of those quests, so nothing you need to worry about.

This is 100% the truth. They complain about the length and pacing of this segment of the story. I wonder though. The devs recently went through this content and streamlined it a fair amount. They made cuts and changes to make it feel and play faster. What im starting to wonder is how much of the complaining is still real, and how much is that these people have heard this part of the story described as "a slog to endure" and are thus coloring their perception of it negatively before they truly get into it.

[ICountFrom0]

What most peopel don't get is, that's an entire section, it's an ENTIRE YEAR of content. It's the back half of the content from ARR. I know people want to speed through, but what happens in the back half is as important as the front half. It just, maybe, needs to be delivered better.

[Tensaihime]

What most peopel don't get is, that's an entire section, it's an ENTIRE YEAR of content. It's the back half of the content from ARR. I know people want to speed through, but what happens in the back half is as important as the front half. It just, maybe, needs to be delivered better.

I have gotten far enough to have watched the credits plus what comes after, and I can attest to the importance of this content. I’d have been mad at myself if I had rushed through it and missed important details.

[Gobio]

I get it. It is perfectly OK if you are waiting for new story and a new patch come, an random NPC asked you do click 3 shinning dot before telling you the real plot. Most people are ok with it. But it is a different story when you "binge watching" pass story and all those innocent little things that you have to do between meaningful and meaningless adds up FAST.